Hi! Welcome to my “FAQ” page. Here you will find answers to many of the questions that are e-mailed to me on a daily basis. I will be adding more as the need arises so keep checking back!

For clients…

~~What are your studio hours?

We do not have set studio hours. We are usually here most weekdays, but often are busy during shoots, or on location. If you need to pick up an order, it is best to call first to make sure someone will be around! The studio is closed on Fridays.

~~How far in advance do I need to schedule my appointment?

Since I book a limited amount of sessions each month, we are often booked up months in advance. We usually start schduling for the summer months (June-August) in February, the fall months (September-Novermber) in June, and the winter/spring months (January-May) in October.

~~Do you photograph at night or on weekends?

During the spring summer months, we usually set aside one-two nights per week for sessions. Two hours before sunset is our absolute favorite light in which to shoot. During the fall and winter, we cannot shoot in late afternoon or evening because I use natural light and it starts to get dark very early. We will schedule occasional weekend sessions. There is an extra $100 charge for these sessions.

~~I have an upcoming family reunion and we REALLY want you to photograph our families. Do you do large groups? [You can also insert weddings, seniors, extended families here.]

No. I specialize in newborns, children and families because that is what I really enjoy and that is what I do best. I will not make exceptions for any of these other requests… even if you ask me really nicely!

~~When we order a collection, does the image have to be the same for all of the prints?

No. You can order as many different images as you’d like.  The only exception to this is the wallet sheets… they come 8 on a sheet and each of those needs to be the same image.

~~Can we substitue items in the collections?

I will allow you to substitute one item in a collection. For example, if you wanted the the “portrait collection” but only wanted one 11×14 instead of two, you could get a credit of $80 to use towards the purchase of something else. There are some restrictions to this, so make sure to check with us!

~~My mom wants to order photos from our gallery, but doesn’t like the way the heads  are cropped off on some of them. Will you recrop them for her?

All of the images in the gallery are edited with my creative eye and the way I think they look best. If a head is cut off or just the legs of the family members are showing, it is because I wanted it that way. My style of photography is not for everyone and I will not change crops to make the photos look more traditional.

~~We like one of the photos in our gallery, but want you to photoshop our child’s head from another photo because we like their smile better on that one.

Since my whole philosophy revolves around capturing the moment, I will not photoshop your photo to make it look perfect. If your child stuck their tongue out on your favorite photo of the rest of you… well… then THAT was the moment!

For other photogs…

~~What kind of equipment do you use?

 I use all Canon gear. I currently use the Canon 5D Mark II, and also have the Canon 5D as my back up. The lenses I use are the 50mm 1.2, 24-70mm 2.8, and the 70-200mm        2.8.

~~Do you ever use a flash or reflectors?

No… 100% natural light all the time.

~~How do you get the subject’s eyes to “sparkle”?

By using natural light, you get very large “catch lights” which result in that glassy, sparkly look.”

~~Do you shoot in RAW or jpeg?

Always in jpeg. I just started out that way… it is my goal to nail the shot in the camera rather than have to significantly alter it afterward.

~~Do you use photoshop actions?

I own MANY! I have purchased actions from Totally Rad, Nicole V, Itty Bitty, Eye Candy, Child’s Play, and Kubota. Even though I have all of these, I usually end up liking only a few in each set, and when editing images from my sessions, I do minimal photoshop work. But they are fun to experiement with every now and then!

~~Who designed your website/blog?

My website is a template from bludomain, and Theresa from “Blogs For Photogs” designed my WordPress blog.